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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28374948">The Flight of the Shopping Cart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tessathetesla/pseuds/tessathetesla'>tessathetesla</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Based on a True Story, Developing Friendships, F/M, Getting in Trouble, Hijinks &amp; Shenanigans, Partners in Crime, Philinda - Freeform, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Canon, Romantic Friendship, SHIELD, SHIELD Academy (Marvel), SHIELD Academy Era (Marvel), Seattle, Young Philinda, aurora bridge, gasworks park, shopping cart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28374948</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tessathetesla/pseuds/tessathetesla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 1 in the The Young Philinda Chronicles</p><p>[These are the collected tales and chronicles of Young Philinda in their first few years out of the Academy. Fresh and new to the base, full of energy, and ready to take on villains…or rather, that ever growing pile of inventory to compile.]</p><p>Phil and Melinda want to blow off some steam after annoying first missions and counting inventory all day. They grab a few friends to stalk the streets of Seattle, where they are stationed at Emerald Base. Hilarity ensues when the crew finds a shopping cart and decides to make it fly.</p><p>--&gt; These events are loosely based on a true story of my friends and I and our college day shenanigans&lt;--</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Phil Coulson/Melinda May</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Phil Coulson and Melinda May?” Nick Fury had called out, looking out in the crowd for his two brightest graduates, who were about to be assigned to their first base as Level 1 Agents.</p><p> </p><p>Phil Coulson breathed a sigh of relief. If him and Melinda were being called together, it was likely that they would be getting the same base assignment. The two had gotten to know each other fairly well at the Academy, at least, at the times when Comms and Operations got to do mock missions together.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Agent Fury?” Coulson replied, walking up to grab a folder with his name on it. Melinda walked up behind him, grabbing the folder.</p><p> </p><p>The two graduates opened up their folders to see their assignment: Emerald Base in Seattle, WA. Coulson was happy, the Seattle base was supposed to be one of the best. He had been nervous they would be sent to the Hub or Fridge. Growing up in Wisconsin, he’d had enough of cold winters.</p><p>May smiled as well, Emerald Base was supposed to be one of the best for Operations agents, as it was a good location for any Western seaboard missions. Besides, having her friend Phil Coulson around on base would make the first year worth it.</p><p> </p><p>Agents of SHIELD were assigned a base for the first year and had a supervising officer tracking their progress as well as taking them on missions. But a lot of the first year of agency was getting through the grind. Tallying inventory, setting out weapons for the field agents, making coffee for the meetings. And if, they were lucky, get to go on some easier field missions to get their toes wet.</p><p> </p><p>Phil Coulson and Melinda May flew to Emerald Base, and once they got under the thick cloud cover of Seattle, saw the Space Needle and collectively gasped. “It’s beautiful here.” Melinda smiled, never having been to Seattle before.</p><p> </p><p>Coulson agreed, “It’s going to be a good year.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>2 months later…</b>
</p><p>“This year is never going to end,” Coulson complained to May, counting the last of the 327 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese they had on the base.</p><p>“Shut up and finish so we can get time off the base,” May replied, signing off on her last inventory sheet.</p><p>“I’ve been on one. Count it. One field assignment so far. And it was being in a surveillance van having to smell Agent Burke’s deviled ham all night.” Coulson wrinkled his nose. He still couldn’t look at ham the same anymore.</p><p>“Well it’s not like my first mission went well either. I was assigned to work with that Agent Blake, and he hit on me the whole time. We nearly missed our target, and Blake accidentally hit me in the face and nearly broke my nose,” May’s face was still a little black and blue from her mission the week before.</p><p>“Hopefully we get a mission together, soon,” Coulson responded, turning in his inventory clipboard to the Quartermaster.</p><p>May grinned at the thought, “Yeah! That would be great. Besides I don’t eat deviled ham, and you won’t hit on me, so we’ll be good.”</p><p>Coulson looked away at May’s comment, he sure would like to hit on her but felt completely intimidated. He saw that happened to guys who broke her heart. They usually left with at least one broken appendage.</p><p>May hit Coulson in the arm, “Earth to Coulson. Hey, let’s go grab some grub from the 5 Spot and take a few friends and walk around the city. I need to get out of the base.”</p><p>It was Coulson’s turn to grin. He loved the 5 Spot, and at this late hour there would be 5 dollar plates of chicken and waffles and good company. “YES, please.”</p><p>Coulson, May, and two other level 1 agents, Lewis and Trenton made their way to the 5 Spot and ate their weight in the cheap dishes. Feeling overly full, the four agents decided to take a nice long walk around Seattle. It was a nice night, they had the day off tomorrow, and could sleep in.</p><p>“Let’s go to Gasworks,” May told the guys, wanting to see the beautiful cityscape along the Puget Sound.</p><p>Coulson walked nearby May, while the other two agents did a little parkour while they traversed the late night Seattle streets.</p><p>Lewis noticed something buried in some blackberry bushes. “Is that a shopping cart?” Lewis and Trenton pulled out the cart, which was empty and unlabeled.</p><p>Melinda laughed, and brushed off the branches. “I’m naming it Floyd. Come on, someone push me!” Melinda jumped inside the cart, while Phil took the reigns and pushed her all over the empty path all the way to Gasworks.</p><p>“WOOOOOOOO!” Melinda screamed, fresh air off the Sound seeping into her lungs. Phil let go on a hill and Melinda raced down while the rest of the crew chased after her.</p><p>The shopping cart eventually hit grass and Melinda flew in the air, catapulted from the hit. Gracefully, she landed in a roll and on her feet. “TA-DA!”</p><p>Lewis, Trenton, and Coulson all clapped their hands in amusement, “That’s our OPS agent!”</p><p>Melinda gave a bow, then the agents noticed blinking lights in the distance near Gasworks.</p><p>Phil sighed, “The potheads got here before us. Come on guys, we don’t want to have to explain to Seattle PD why SHIELD agents are trespassing on a closed park.”</p><p>Melinda gave a mischievous smirk, “Well, we’ve got to do something with Floyd.”</p><p>Phil knew that look. In the 2 months they’d been at Emerald Base, Melinda already had gotten the reputation of trouble maker and rule breaker.</p><p>Lewis and Trenton looked eagerly at May, waiting for her to give them her idea.</p><p>Melinda looked up at Aurora Bridge in the far distance. “Why don’t we give Floyd a little ride?”</p><p>Coulson face palmed, “Melinda…I’m not sure….” He began but May interrupted, “Stop being a square, Phil.”</p><p>Coulson sighed and followed Melinda and the other two agents to the path that would lead them up the bridge. The crew made it up to the bridge, which was mostly empty except for a few cars buzzing by in the early morning.</p><p>“Okay, at least let’s throw it over the water, that way we don’t accidentally hit something,” Phil offered, looking around and hoping that they wouldn’t get caught. How they would explain this to Fury, he didn’t know. Especially since all four of them were completely sober.</p><p>Trenton brought out his shield issue camera, he was in the science division and they were working on a digital camera. It was years ahead of its time, and he decided to bring it on their adventures to test it out. Melinda and Phil got in position to heave over the side of the bridge.</p><p>“Okay, I got you in view, 3, 2, 1!” Trenton shouted as he pointed the camera over the bridge.</p><p>Floyd the Shopping Cart flew. It twirled. It whistled all the way down for what seemed like forever, until “SPLASH!” Even in the dark 3 am night sky, the friends could see the ripples as Floyd landed in the water.</p><p>“SCORE!” The core four cheered and laughed and watched the video over and over again on Trenton’s SHIELD camera.</p><p>“I can’t believe it whistled! That was brilliant!” Melinda laughed loudly, echoing in the night. Phil gave her a hug and she gave one back, sharing a rare moment together. Lewis and Trenton gave them a knowing look, they’ve been trying to get Phil and Melinda together since they first met on day one.</p><p>“Guys, we should probably get out of here.” Lewis responded, looking around for any witnesses. The four agents made it back to Emerald Base without incidents. They threw a shopping cart off a bridge, laughed, had a good time. Of course, that wasn’t the end of the story.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bragging Rights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Phil and Melinda brag about the flight of the shopping cart, which catches the attention of their supervising officers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Phil and Melinda still seemed high off the adrenaline rush that comes with doing something semi illegal and slightly dangerous into the next day. Trenton had sent a copy of the video to both Phil and Melinda, who both had it on their SHIELD issue tablets, also years ahead of what the common people used.</p><p> </p><p>Melinda showed the video to all the other agents the base dormitory and laughter filled the halls of the base. Phil bragged about the exploits with his fellow agents at the cafeteria. Lewis and Trenton decided to stay quiet, especially since Trenton wasn’t supposed to have the SHIELD camera out of the base when it’s not a mission.</p><p> </p><p>Later in the day, Fury called both May and Coulson to his office, where May’s supervising officer also stood with a disapproving look.</p><p> </p><p>“Look. I get you guys needed to blow off some stem after your less than stellar first missions but throwing a shopping cart off a bridge is not a good way to do that. You could have hurt someone, damaged private property. And Seattle PD could charge you if there is damage. The littering fee alone is 1,000 dollars or a couple nights in jail,” Fury said, May and Coulson sitting down and listening to Fury with somber looks.</p><p> </p><p>Phil was the first to speak up, “I’m sorry, Fury. We just got excited, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Fury tapped on his clipboard, “Well, I’m going to have to assign you to extra time in the kitchen washing dishes. Starting today.” May’s supervising officer nodded at Fury, then left the room.</p><p> </p><p>Once she was out of earshot, Fury grinned, “I wish I’d had the balls to do that. Sounded fun! But since I am your supervising officer, I’m obligated to have you pay the consequences.”</p><p> </p><p>This time, it was Melinda that spoke, “But Fury! The very same night, there was a raging party with agents from all over, and they stole Agent Manhoo’s best Scotch. They shared photos all over the base, why are we getting in trouble and not them?”</p><p> </p><p>Fury just shook his head, “Because their supervising officers don’t care. But you two are my best new agents, and have a bright future ahead of you. I need to make an example. You two need to be the examples for the younger, less capable agents.”</p><p> </p><p>Melinda scowled but kept silent. Phil and Melinda walked out of the office, feeling a bit dejected. “Well Mel, at least it was a good story. And at least we get to do the punishment together.”</p><p> </p><p>Melinda took Phil’s hand and smiled, “With you at my side, we’ll get through this year, won’t we?”</p><p> </p><p>Phil couldn’t believe it, Melinda was giving him attention. Maybe pulling pranks and breaking rules with her did have its advantages. “Yeah, we will, Melinda. And we’ll become the best damned agents SHIELD will ever have.”</p><p> </p><p>She gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Yeah, you’ll be director some day, Phil. I just know it.”</p><p> </p><p>Phil blushed, and the two walked hand in hand to the kitchen, where they would spend the next two weeks. But they’d had good laughs, a good time, and now a friendship that would last forever.</p>
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